Throughout human history, a continued drive exists for materials of construction that are strong, durable, and lightweight. However, such materials may be difficult to come by. For example, steel is quite strong and durable, but heavy. On the other hand, wood is relatively lightweight and durable, but not very strong. Other materials that have been considered include cast iron, aluminum, glass, concrete, and polymers.
One solution to the foregoing problem is to structurally enforce materials that are lightweight and durable, but not very strong. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,061 discloses a graphite material having expanded particles compressed together without a binder material. However, such graphite material is not sufficiently strong and highly variable in quality. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,354 discloses a dense carbon-carbon composite that is strong. However, a deficiency of this carbon-carbon composite is that its production requires large investments in equipment and energy, and the production has low yields of desired results per mass of carbon. Accordingly, several improvements in reinforcing composite structural materials may be desirable.